What does it mean to seek an order?
You may enter a child custody dispute feeling that “I want justice” or “I want to protect my child”. In court, these wishes must be translated into specific requests for legal orders.
Put simply, seeking an order means asking the court to make a particular decision – not merely describing the problem, but clearly stating the solution you want the court to order. The court primarily considers three areas: custody, meaning legal responsibility for your child; residence, meaning where your child lives; and contact.
Seeking sole custody
Joint custody is the starting point under Swedish law. However, if cooperation has seriously broken down, or there are risk factors affecting your child, you can seek sole custody. This is not about “winning” your child or excluding the other parent, but about whether joint custody works in practice and whether the conflict adversely affects your child.
You may feel that all communication has broken down, for example through:
- Recurring disputes about schooling or healthcare
- Difficulty contacting the other parent
- Controlling behaviour
- Obstruction of contact
- Situations in which your child is caught in the middle of the conflict
Seeking residence orders
Even where custody is joint, your child needs settled living arrangements. You can ask the court to order that your child should live mainly with you and have contact with the other parent. Sometimes both parents seek shared residence, with the child living alternately with each parent.
Shared residence is not automatically considered best simply because you both want to be involved. The court considers your child’s age, the distance between your homes, communication between you as parents, and whether the arrangements offer stability and predictability. Where the level of conflict is very high, your child may need one main home.
Seeking contact orders
In law, contact is regarded as your child’s right – not yours as a parent. If contact is not working, you can seek an order setting out clear arrangements, with fixed days, times and handovers. If there are concerns about your child’s safety and security, it may be appropriate to seek more limited arrangements, such as contact with a designated support person present or a gradual increase in contact.
Seeking more orders and greater restrictions does not strengthen your position
Your request must appear reasonable, carefully considered and focused on your child. Asking the court to exclude the other parent entirely without strong reasons risks being seen as confrontational. The court considers not only what you are asking for, but also why, and how well it meets your child’s needs.
Seeking interim orders
Requests are also often made for interim orders: temporary decisions about matters such as residence or contact while proceedings are ongoing. These can be significant because they affect your child’s daily life for a considerable time before judgment is given.
A well-considered request reflects a focus on your child
The court seeks to understand the dynamics behind your requests: are you trying to create stability for your child, or are your requests driven by control, anger or conflict? A well-considered request is therefore not only legally sound – it also reflects maturity, a focus on your child and long-term stability.